BC's Weather killing Marijuana Crops

VANCOUVER - There's little hope for this dope.

British Columbia's famed outdoor pot will rot if the sun remains a no-show, says marijuana activist and seed-seller Marc Emery.

That dire warning came Wednesday from Mr. Emery -- the so-called Prince of Pot -- on yet another cold, drizzly day.

"A couple more days of cold and rain and you can get root rot, or powdery mildew or the plants washing away," said Mr. Emery of the vast outdoor pot crops now in peril all over B.C.

He estimates the outdoor crop in B.C. is worth about $1 billion.

Big outdoor crops are harvested in the Kootenay area and the Okanagan. But the biggest bounty is said to be on Vancouver Island.

"If you grow outdoors, you need the sun to dry off the moisture in the ground and dry off the surface of the plants," he said.

He said with the heavy rain, the plants that have been put in the ground in the last few weeks may not survive.

"People are starting to lose their crops," he said of the weather-related problems growers are facing with their clandestine crops.